Abstracting Complexity for Design Planning

ing Complexity for Design Planning David Wynn, Claudia Eckert and P John Clarkson Engineering Design Centre, Engineering Department, Trumpington St, Cambridge, UK. http://www-edc.eng.cam.ac.uk/people/dcw24 Abstract: This short paper is based on research carried out during an eight month case study at a large UK aerospace company. The focus of the study was to develop a more effective technique for planning the complex design processes found in the company, in order to support the development of more detailed and more accurate schedules. The paper outlines some key findings of this research, concluding with an important challenge for future work: once an appropriate level of abstraction has been identified for modelling complex design plans, how can the distributed, subjective planning knowledge be synthesized to form a coherent perspective? This short paper is based on research carried out during an eight month case study at a large UK aerospace company. The focus of the study was to develop a more effective technique for planning the complex design processes found in the company, in order to support the development of more detailed and more accurate schedules. The paper outlines some key findings of this research, concluding with an important challenge for future work: once an appropriate level of abstraction has been identified for modelling complex design plans, how can the distributed, subjective planning knowledge be synthesized to form a coherent perspective?